I’m sat here in a large pub, it’s thundering outside with the rain lashing against the ground. This pub is immense, almost too big. The locals tell me that it was once a ballroom in the 1940’s; they would throw gin nights upstairs housing some 500 people or more. The bar has been home to bands such as The Who, Pink Floyd, Thin Lizzy and The Sex Pistols over its time. I can see why.
The barmaid that I am speaking to say that today it could be the last day that the bar is open in its current form. They are simply not taking in that much money, and the, like many, are struggling to survive.
I read the other day that, since 2008, nearly 20% of London’s bars have closed. A staggering statistic. Yet up and down the country it seems to be the same pattern. Those bars that have been the refuge of many for decades, even centuries are no longer sustaining enough money to survive.
I love British pubs. I miss them a great deal. In the city, where I live in Sweden almost all the bars are “mock pubs”. The Cromwell, The Black Lion, Harry’s and The Highlander are all rich in business, yet the exact place that they copy is becoming more and more scarce.
Up until a few years ago the blame was on the theme bars such as Wetherspoons undercutting the more family run bars, but even they are struggling. It’s not the financial state of the economy. I think there is one area that is clearly to blame, and that is the competitive price of alcohol in supermarkets.
Many prefer to stay at home these days, the beer is up to 70% cheaper, you have the same sports that were once only available in bars, and it’s just less hassle.
But for me, nothing quite beats getting down to your local bar where the carpet has not been changed for decades The beer is warm yet more exhilarating than anything directly from your fridge, but above all it’s about seeing friends, chatting to the bar staff and being social.
London and indeed Britain’s pubs possibly closing at a rate faster than I would like. But you can imitate our bars as much as you like, nothing beats the experience of a proper British Boozer!
